Months-long emergency plumbing repairs and restroom renovations at the Knox County courthouse are coming to an end as a task force eyes a larger plan to address space needs and aging infrastructure in the building.
Two portable, climate-controlled restrooms had been parked behind the courthouse for employee and visitor use since the spring, when it was discovered during already planned restroom renovations that the courthouse’s main sewer line had collapsed.
One of the portable restrooms has been removed now that the sewer line has been repaired and the basement restrooms have been fully remodeled a couple months ahead of schedule, county board chair Jared Hawkinson told TSPR.
“With the basement restrooms in full service now, that puts us 100% in compliance with the number of stalls and urinals that are required,” Hawkinson said.
The other portable restroom will remain on site until the restroom renovations are completed on the second and third floors, in case a jury trial or heavy caseload significantly increases courthouse traffic.
Hawkinson said work on the other restrooms is ongoing but should be done by the end of the month, also ahead of schedule.
Through the end of September, the county spent $986,070 on the emergency plumbing repairs and bathroom renovations, according to Knox County Treasurer Robin Davis.
‘A lot of unplanned problems’
While the collapse of the main sewer line was discovered during the restroom renovation project, the project was prompted by other sewer line problems.
“The other sewer line was what led us up in the second and third floor restroom where it was deteriorating in the walls,” Hawkinson said. “That's what led us to the original project to start updating the bathrooms quickly because we were running out of bathrooms.”
Hawkinson said workers found more problems as they went further down the sewer line. Then they found a large void below the surface of a concrete floor in the basement that escalated the project to emergency status.
“That was kind of the straw that broke the camel's back that we had to fix everything for the sewer lines and relocate some water lines and all that fun stuff,” Hawkinson said. “We just couldn't turn that blind eye since we knew that the problem existed.”
At a recent candidate forum, a county board candidate claimed there’s been no running water in the courthouse during the repairs. Hawkinson told TSPR there may have been temporary water turn-offs as part of the work but no long-term outages.
He thanked courthouse employees and visitors for enduring less than ideal conditions.
“There were a lot of unplanned problems that were rectified as quickly as possible," Hawkinson said. “I'm glad that we've reached and surpassed this milestone to get the bathrooms back open and provide a nice space for people to use.”
‘Band-aid after band-aid’
The current Knox County courthouse was built in the 1880s after the county seat moved to Galesburg from Knoxville in 1873.
In March of this year, as the courthouse restroom renovations were about to become a Pandora’s box of sewer problems, the county board formed a task force to look at options for the courthouse — whether to keep fixing problems, to construct a new building, or to use existing properties for courthouse operations.
Hawkinson previously estimated it would cost more than $15 million just to upgrade HVAC, electrical, and plumbing in the courthouse.
These are not new problems or new conversations.
In 2011, the county board worked with an architectural firm on a feasibility study for similar options. At the time, constructing a new courthouse would have cost $30 million while renovating the existing courthouse and constructing an addition would have been $25 million.
“They determined then they just couldn't afford it then,” Hawkinson said. “We have just continued to put band-aid after band-aid as best as we could because we knew it was going to be a costly venture.”
Hawkinson said the task force, which includes county board members and residents, is on track to deliver a recommendation by the end of the year. But first, the county board will be asked at its meeting this month to approve hiring a firm to conduct a space study.
“They’ll meet with each department head, appointed and elected, and make sure that what they need is sufficient versus what they currently have in addition to potential future needs and space for storage. Right now, the county has always had a problem with storage,” Hawkinson said. “They’ll put together a comprehensive plan.”
The results of the space study could determine whether a referendum is placed on the ballot in the spring.
Hawkinson said if it did move forward, the county will still be occupying the current courthouse for at least three or four more years, which made the restroom renovations necessary.
"It was a necessary step because we just can't relocate an entire courthouse overnight," Hawkinson said.
For Hawkinson, the cost of waiting any longer to make a plan for the courthouse is what’s pushing the county board and the task force to take action now.
“If this is the problem and it’s costing this much now, what’s it going to be in five and ten years if we don’t do anything,” he said.
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